Vibrational quenching of NO+(v) ions by Ar collisions

Abstract Quenching rate constants for NO + ( v =1) and NO + ( v =4) in collisions with Ar have been measured from near thermal energy up to 0.5 eV mean relative kinetic energy in a selected ion flow drift tube. The rate constants increase dramatically with KE CM indicating that the quenching is dominated by the short range repulsive interaction. At higher energies the data fit linear Landau–Teller plots. These are the first L–T plots obtained for ion quenching by other than a He quencher.